FTSE TMX and State Bank of India to Launch FTSE SBI India Bond Index

       

    

-        First FTSE TMX product dedicated to Indian fixed income securities

-        Developed in partnership with State Bank of India

-        Project will strengthen UK-Indian financial ties

Mumbai, 13 November, 2015: FTSE Russell, the global index provider, today announced the signing of the letter of intent between FTSE TMX Global Debt Capital Markets and State Bank of India, to develop in partnership, a new index, FTSE-SBI India Bond Index, tracking Indian fixed income securities. SBI Mutual Fund, the asset management subsidiary of State Bank of India, India’s largest bank, intends to use the new index as the basis for a new investment product.

Advised by SBI Capital Markets (SBICAP), the letter of intent, signed in the same week of the visit of India Prime Minister, Narendra Modi to the UK, is a first for FTSE Russell and provides it, and parent company London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), with an important platform in India’s burgeoning domestic financial market.

Smt. Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairman, State Bank of India said:
“We are delighted to be partnering with London Stock Exchange Group to create the FTSE SBI bond indices for India. Despite investor appetite to access India’s ongoing growth story, at present Indian issuers’ bonds do not have a credible global benchmark for passive investment funds that captures the Indian growth story. The FTSE SBI Indian Bond indices will be a catalyst in the ongoing development and deepening of Indian sovereign and corporate bond markets. It will provide a benchmark for attracting passive funds into Indian bonds as an asset class. Further, it will contribute to bond liquidity and dynamic pricing, as well as enable the evolution of the secondary market for Indian issuers’ bonds.”

Ms. Varsha Purandare, Managing Director & CEO, SBI Capital Markets Limited, India’s leading Investment bank and wholly owned subsidiary of the State Bank of India added:

“Given the strength of the UK and India partnership and London’s status as the pre-eminent financial centre, we are confident that this collaboration between the State Bank of India and London Stock Exchange Group will further contribute to the creation of vibrant and deep bond markets for Indian issuers, providing international capital with a further means to access India’s developing economy.”

Donald Keith, Deputy CEO, FTSE Russell said:

“This is an important step for FTSE Russell and LSEG as a whole, providing us with a strong platform and strategic alliance for building our presence in India. Together with State Bank of India, we will provide the tools to build investment in India, developing deeper pools of international liquidity in the sovereign and corporate bond markets. We are fully committed to supporting State bank of India’s ambitions to develop the Indian fixed income market as well as facilitating closer ties between India and international investors. The letter of intent signed today will accelerate progress towards significant and exciting milestones in this important new chapter in global finance.”

 About State Bank of India:

State Bank of India (SBI) is the largest commercial bank in India in terms of assets, deposits, profits, branches, customers and employees. The Bank provides Domestic Operations, International Operations and Treasury Operations.The  SBI group consists of SBI and five associate banks. The group has an extensive network, with nearly 23,000 branches in India and over 190 offices in 36 other countries across the world. The bank itself has over 16,000 domestic branches and over 54,000 pan-India ATMs.

As of 31st March 2015, the group had assets worth US$ 424 billion and capital & reserves in excess of US$ 25 billion. The SBI has over

1/5th market share of the Indian banking sector. SBI's non- banking subsidiaries/joint ventures are major players in their respective areas and provide wide ranging services, which include investment banking, life insurance, general insurance, mutual funds, credit cards, factoring services, security trading, etc. making the SBI Group a truly large financial supermarket and India's financial icon.

For more information, visit www.sbi.co.in

About SBICAP:

SBICAP began its operations in August 1986 and is a wholly owned subsidiary and investment banking arm of State Bank of India (SBI), the largest commercial bank in India. SBICAP offers the entire bouquet of investment banking and corporate advisory services. The service bouquet includes the full range of financial advisory services under one umbrella covering Project Advisory and Loan Syndication, Structured Debt Placement, Capital Markets, Mergers & Acquisitions, Private Equity and Stressed Assets Resolution.

SBICAP is a global leader in the area of Project Loan Syndication and has lent crucial support to the Indian infrastructure sector. Headquartered in Mumbai, SBICAP has 5 regional offices across India (New Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad), 2 branch offices (Pune and Guwahati) and 5 subsidiaries - SBICAP Securities Limited, SBICAP Trustee Company Limited, SBICAP Ventures Limited, SBICAP (UK) Limited and SBICAP (Singapore) Limited.

SBICAP (UK) was incorporated in 2005, and is the UK subsidiary of SBICAP. For more information, visitwww.sbicaps.com

About FTSE Russell:

FTSE Russell is a global index leader that provides innovative benchmarking, analytics and data solutions for investors worldwide.  FTSE Russell calculates thousands of indexes that measure and benchmark markets and asset classes in more than 80 countries, covering 98% of the investable market globally and trading on over 25 exchanges worldwide.

FTSE Russell index expertise and products are used extensively by institutional and retail investors globally. Leading asset owners, asset managers, ETF providers and investment banks use FTSE Russell indexes to benchmark their investment performance and create ETFs, structured products and index-based derivatives.

A core set of universal principles guides FTSE Russell index design and management: a transparent rules-based methodology is informed by independent committees of leading market participants. FTSE Russell is focused on applying the highest industry standards in index design and governance. FTSE Russell is also focused on index innovation and client collaboration as it seeks to enhance the breadth, depth and reach of its offering.

FTSE Russell is wholly owned by London Stock Exchange Group. For more information, visit www.ftserussell.com.